A variety of different types of footwear inserts have long been available in the art, and are generally provided for the purpose of adding comfort to the interior of the shoe, and as a means for overlying the insole, particularly in those styles of shoes that may use a hardening adhesive in order to apply these types of components to the shoe upper, or in the case of dress shoes, where nails may still be utilized for applying soles to the footwear, during their fabrication. More specifically, in the construction of boots, unless the sole is molded in situ to the boot upper, during its fabrication, nails are generally used for adhering the outsoles to the boots, during their fabrication. Hence, when these types of hard and roughened edges are disposed interiorly of the insole, it becomes necessary to provide some form of liner, to the interior of the shoe, in order to add to its comfort, and to shield the foot from exposure to these types of footwear assembly components.
Examples of prior art types of insoles can be seen in various previous patents that have issued. U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,179, issued to Quist, Jr., discloses a shoe insole, which amongst its various layers of foam, also includes a metal layer, as can be noted. This particular insole is designed to provide for rugged protection against the foot, through the addition of the metal layer, and that the remaining layers of foam, polyethylene film, and felt, are obviously present for comfort purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,605, issued to Chapnick, discloses a shoe insert construction and method of making the same.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,679, issued to Brandon et al., discloses a styled comfort shoe construction. The insole for this particular designed shoe also includes a variety of layers of foam material, leather lining, and other filler materials, in which are cement-lasted to the shoe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,708, issued to Daily, discloses a custom insole for an athletic shoe. This particular insole is more concerned with providing a significantly sized arch flange. Some of these flanges, or portions of the custom insole, are made of thermaformable materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,793, issued to Lyden, discloses aconformable cushioning and stability device for articles of footwear. This particular patent describes a conformable material which apparently achieves a solid matter state, after a working time, in order to enhance its conformance, the cushioning means is fabricated containing a variety of other components, such as a resilient layer of fluid material, in addition to a void that contains gas. This is not of similar construction to the insole insert of this current invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,173, issued to Canary, discloses a paperboard product and process that may be used for making shoe insoles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,349, issued to Ogden, discloses another footwear insole that is defined as comprising an apertured top layer, for thermoconductive purposes. This particular insole, of this prior art patent, includes a first layer that is slip resistant, a non-absorbent, and thermally non-conductive component in its structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,432, issued to Kite, discloses an insole for shoes providing heel stabilization. This particular device simply includes means for heel stabilization, through the usage of an inner fabric layer, a side wall portion, and a cushioning material, which is apparently formed of some type of resilient putty particles, apparently for conformance purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,064, issued to Pyle, discloses a multilayer sole construction for walking shoes. This is a multilayered insole, and it does contain a sock lining having a layer of shock absorbing material, in addition to a latex layer that is formed of humidity and odor absorbing material, including carbon particles, in addition to an upper layer that is of an open celled foam, and ergonomic of design. This liner also includes a foam layer, having a latex layer applied thereto, and which contains a plurality of carbon particles, and includes a foam layer of medium density having the ergonomic abilities, to provide high energy absorption.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,336, issued to Ogden, discloses a footwear insole with a moisture absorbent inner layer. This particular patent is very similar to, and comprises a continuation upon, the earlier Ogden U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,349. The insole of this particular patent is also formed in a related manner, having a first layer of slip-resistant material, and which is not absorbent, and includes thermally non-conductive attributes, within its structure.
These are representative examples of the prior art known to the applicant, and which, upon review, do not appear to incorporate either directly, or by suggestion, the components of this current invention as will be subsequently described.